Some Assembly Required : : a Journal of my Son's First son

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The author and her son chronicle his first year as a teenage father and her journey as a mother and new grandmother, describing their respective experiences with changing roles, the baby's mother, and poignant family losses.

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Not Lamott's best effort submitted by pk on July 15, 2012, 5:15pm When I saw that Anne Lamott had written a new book - this time about her son's first child - I was excited. The first book by her that I read, Operating Instructions, was about the birth of her son. I loved that book, so would this one be as funny, poignant, and true?

Nope. Sorry to say it falls short. Lamott still has her straightforward, hold nothing back style of writing, but somehow this book fell flat. In it, she discusses the events and her often irrational feelings during the first year of her grandson's life. Her now nearly 20 year old son and his girlfriend live close by and so she sees them all often. The usual parade of Lamott friends and relations come in and out of the story as well. Those who have read Lamott's other books also know of her strong Christian faith (however irreverently discussed at times) and that comes up a lot in this book as well.

But mostly what Anne Lamott does her is talk about her grandson. And it isn't more than occasionally funny. What she offers as poignant (the failing health of her uncle), doesn't do the situation justice. Maybe I can't see the truth in this book since I'm not a grandparent, but even the little glimmers of truth don't resonate well. The conflicts and difficulties aren't explored fully and feel flat and dull.

In one part of the book, Lamott complains about those Grandmas that annoy everyone by showing off pictures of the grandkids all the time. Unfortunately, that's pretty much what Lamott is doing with her entire book. I'm sure her grandson is really sweet. But worth reading a whole book? Not really.

liked it submitted by fairytale on July 18, 2012, 8:34pm This is a good book, but not my favorite of Anne Lamott's books. I would recommend it, it was a good read, though.